My passion for treating patients with scoliosis and other spinal curvatures comes from my passion for life. I think of patients and their families as I think of my own. Those families have their own goals, aspirations and fears just as we all have. My international charitable work has taught me about how much we all have in common as members of the human family despite superficial differences. My drive to do research comes from a desire to answer questions and provide solutions for the families that I and my team treat as well as those that other surgeons and physicians care for. Swimming is one of my passions. I have competed in the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon in which I swam 1.5 miles in San Francisco Bay, 1.6 miles in the Save the Bay swim in Jamestown Rhode Island, 3.5 miles in the Beach to Beach Power Swim off of St. John in the Virgin Islands and a 6 mile training swim off of Coney Island, Brooklyn amongst other events.